Dominic's Little Blog

Welcome to my blog, resistance is futile. These are my ramblings, thoughts, musings and opinions on all manner of topics. I blog about subjects including technology, social media, cycling, politics, science, animal welfare or anything else that takes my fancy.
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Tuesday, 11 September 2012

There is no analogy to be found in nature for the massive harm we do to animals for pleasure!

In any discussion concerning the ethics of eating animals, it feels important to begin by pointing out a frequently overlooked distinction: that harming and killing animals from necessity is not morally equivalent to harming and killing animals for pleasure. Just as shooting someone in self-defense is not commensurate with shooting someone to satisfy a sadistic urge — killing animals for food when we have no other choice for survival, is not morally equivalent to killing animals when we have plentiful alternatives. Violence committed in order to save a life is never analogous to violence committed for pleasure or profit.

This distinction is crucial for several reasons, the first of which is that it clarifies a serious category error, in the thinking of people who insist that meat-eating is “natural”— and therefore morally neutral — because other animals eat animals. It’s important to realise that, with a few exceptions, when humans kill other animals for food, we’re not doing what animals do in nature. When animals kill other animals for food, they do as they must, in order to survive; they have no choice in the matter. Many humans, on the other hand, do have a choice, and when people with access to non-animal food options choose to consume animals anyway, because they can, or because they like the taste, they are not killing from necessity, as animals (and some humans) do. Whether we’re talking about a lion taking down a water buffalo, or a human in some remote or impoverished location forced to hunt in order to feed their family: these are acts of necessity, and do not equate to, nor justify, wholly unnecessary harm to animals. There is no analogy to be found in nature for the massive harm we do to animals for pleasure.

Another reason it’s important to recognise the necessity / pleasure distinction is that harming animals for pleasure goes against core values most of us hold in common — which is why, for example, millions of us are outraged over dog fighting, and why we oppose dog fighting on principle. The notion of deriving pleasure from violence toward animals is repulsive to us; so how can we justify harming animals for the taste of their flesh? How can it be wrong to harm for pleasure in one instance, and not the other? The same reasons that compel us to oppose dog fighting compel us to abstain from killing animals we don’t need to eat: namely, that it is wrong to harm animals for pleasure, and it is wrong to kill animals for pleasure.

Finally, to harm animals for pleasure is also, ultimately, to harm ourselves. Constantly acting in opposition to our own core values deforms our hearts — and it diminishes our integrity, and hinders our emotional and moral growth. Day after day, and year after year, our lives can be seen as the culmination of thousands of instances in which, equally assured of nourishment and pleasure, we had the opportunity to choose kindness and mercy, or to choose violence and selfishness. What can it mean for caring people to regularly reject compassionate choices that cost them next to nothing, and to instead embrace unnecessary violence that costs its victims, literally, everything? To do so is to destroy kindness in our hearts. It’s a simple equation. Every time we put food in our mouths, we reinforce a value. When we choose, over and over, to activate apathy and selfishness in ourselves, we become different people than the people we would have become had we chosen instead to cultivate compassion and mercy.

Friday, 20 July 2012

“I want the world to be better because I was here. I want my life, I want my work, my family, I want it to mean something and if you are not making someone else’s life better then you are wasting your time” ~ Will Smith

Thursday, 28 June 2012

Feeling good is our primary goal in life. We choose foods that we think will make us feel good, we buy clothes that we think will make us feel good, and we choose relationships with people we think will make us feel good. But often, we discredit and overlook the biggest element that will truly make us feel good: thinking good thoughts. It is our thoughts that really dictate the way we feel, so why not choose thoughts that make you feel amazing?

Awareness is the first step to making positive changes, so monitor your thoughts throughout the day. Whenever you catch yourself thinking about something that doesn’t make you feel good, transform that thought into something that does.

Happiness is the result of being thankful for what you have, so make a point of counting your blessings. What you place your attention on grows, so it’s important to place your attention on the good in your life rather than the lack.

Wednesday, 27 June 2012

The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent events in Syria and have therefore raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved." Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross." The English have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies nearly ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from "Tiresome" to "A Bloody Nuisance." The last time the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish Armada.

The Scots have raised their threat level from "Pissed Off" to "Let's get the Bastards." They don't have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300 years.

The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide." The only two higher levels in France are "Collaborate" and "Surrender." The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France 's white flag factory, effectively paralyzing the country's military capability.

Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout Loudly and Excitedly" to "Elaborate Military Posturing." Two more levels remain: "Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change Sides."

The Germans have increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance" to "Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs." They also have two higher levels: "Invade a Neighbour" and "Lose."

Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual; the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels .

The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.

Australia, meanwhile, has raised its security level from "No worries" to "She'll be alright, Mate." Two more escalation levels remain: "Crikey! I think we'll need to cancel the barbie this weekend!" and "The barbie is cancelled." So far no situation has ever warranted use of the last final escalation level.

Regards,

John Cleese,

British writer, actor and tall person

And as a final thought - Greece is collapsing, the Iranians are getting aggressive, and Rome is in disarray. Welcome back to 430 BC.

Friday, 1 June 2012

What in the hell kind of excuse is “but I like eating meat and cheese”? Life on this planet certainly doesn’t enjoy your consumption of meat and cheese. Animals do not enjoy being exploited, tortured and murdered so that you can enjoy consuming their flesh or bodily fluids. Your own posterity certainly isn’t going to thank you for placing your personal pleasure above future human continuance.

Some 2,500 gallons of water and 16 lbs. of grain are expended to produce just one lb. of beef whilst 40,000 human beings die of starvation and 6,000 succumb to poor water source related deaths, every single day. Over 20,000 of those dying humans are children…innocent children dying, each and every day.

Animal agriculture, which is directly responsible for 80% of all planetary deforestation, shreds enough rain forest every 5 years to cover the nation of Greece. Humanity has drained half of all wetlands on the planet in favor of sustaining “livestock”. We lose 135 known planet/animal species to extinction each day and generate more CO2 emissions than the entire global human transit system creates through the aforementioned deforestation. This greenhouse gas statistic obviously does not even account for the methane emissions caused by animal agriculture.

“Livestock” animals consume 40% of all the fish(farmed and caught) which humanity touches, as fish are ground-up and added to their grain-feed. Incidentally, 50% of all the grain that humanity reaps is also fed to “livestock” animals. Yes, half of every grain cultivated by humanity is fed to livestock whilst coral reefs die off through temperature rise and ocean acidification, caused by greenhouse emissions mainly originating from the very animals that we enslave.

The planet is sucked dry in favor of our animal flesh/fluid addiction whilst children starve to death, you make up excuses for consuming your own children’s futures and animals suffer horrifically. Correct me if I am wrong, but isn’t a child’s life supposed to be priceless? Would you not make sacrifices in your life to save the life of a child? What about the lives of 20,000 children each day? What about the future of every child on the planet, as well as the posterity of their children?

Your poor and destructive choices are directly impacting MY posterity and let me tell you something; I DON’T LIKE IT!

It is no wonder that humans care so little for other life forms on this planet, when the majority of our species does not even concern themselves with the future continuance of their own posterity long enough to face reality and evolve into a less self-destructive entity.